Monday, April 30, 2007

Psychology Today: A Nation of Wimps

This is proof of what I, my good friend Steve, and others call....

THE PUSSYFICATION OF AMERICA

Psychology Today: A Nation of Wimps

Blessed Be, and have a merry Beltane
Dr. S.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

So, maybe this is why I have been sick?

Since I started at Century Theatres, I have constantly been sick. I thought it might be my diet, [changed that]. I thought it might have been dealing with the toxic chemicals, [no ventilation in my workroom]. And then I just passed it off as stress, [work hours varied, mostly overnight when no-one else is there, and being 24/7 on call].

But, I found this article that made me think. I have dealt with more than 300 compact fluorescent light bulbs in replacing them while at Century. Most of which were cheap lamps that had broken away from the base. The only way to remove/replace them was to use a pliers & yank it out of the socket while standing directly below the fixture.

CFL's are great on energy savings.

But up until now, I didn't realize how bad for the environment, and ourselves, they are.

I personally will stick with buying a lamp that, if it breaks, I might cut myself cleaning up. Rather than while cleaning up the mess, I not only cut myself, but poison myself.

Blessed Be, & if you have a bad CFL, the toxic waste station is @ the bottom of the north Cliff hill, just off of the Sioux River. [I think that is ironic]

Dr. S.



How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent light bulb? About US$4.28 for the bulb and labour -- unless you break the bulb. Then you, like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine, could be looking at a cost of about US$2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.

Sound crazy? Perhaps no more than the stampede to ban the incandescent light bulb in favour of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

According to an April 12 article in The Ellsworth American, Bridges had the misfortune of breaking a CFL during installation in her daughter's bedroom: It dropped and shattered on the carpeted floor.

Aware that CFLs contain potentially hazardous substances, Bridges called her local Home Depot for advice. The store told her that the CFL contained mercury and that she should call the Poison Control hotline, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

The DEP sent a specialist to Bridges' house to test for mercury contamination. The specialist found mercury levels in the bedroom in excess of six times the state's "safe" level for mercury contamination of 300 billionths of a gram per cubic meter. The DEP specialist recommended that Bridges call an environmental cleanup firm, which reportedly gave her a "low-ball" estimate of US$2,000 to clean up the room. The room then was sealed off with plastic and Bridges began "gathering finances" to pay for the US$2,000 cleaning. Reportedly, her insurance company wouldn't cover the cleanup costs because mercury is a pollutant.

Given that the replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs in the average U.S. household is touted as saving as much as US$180 annually in energy costs -- and assuming that Bridges doesn't break any more CFLs -- it will take her more than 11 years to recoup the cleanup costs in the form of energy savings.

The potentially hazardous CFL is being pushed by companies such as Wal-Mart, which wants to sell 100 million CFLs at five times the cost of incandescent bulbs during 2007, and, surprisingly, environmentalists.

It's quite odd that environmentalists have embraced the CFL, which cannot now and will not in the foreseeable future be made without mercury. Given that there are about five billion light bulb sockets in North American households, we're looking at the possibility of creating billions of hazardous waste sites such as the Bridges' bedroom.

Usually, environmentalists want hazardous materials out of, not in, our homes. These are the same people who go berserk at the thought of mercury being emitted from power plants and the presence of mercury in seafood. Environmentalists have whipped up so much fear of mercury among the public that many local governments have even launched mercury thermometer exchange programs.

As the activist group Environmental Defense urges us to buy CFLs, it defines mercury on a separate part of its Web site as a "highly toxic heavy metal that can cause brain damage and learning disabilities in fetuses and children" and as "one of the most poisonous forms of pollution."

Greenpeace also recommends CFLs while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury-thermometer factory in India. But where are mercury-containing CFLs made? Not in the United States, under strict environmental regulation. CFLs are made in India and China, where environmental standards are virtually non-existent.

And let's not forget about the regulatory nightmare in the U.S. known as the Superfund law, the EPA regulatory program best known for requiring expensive but often needless cleanup of toxic waste sites, along with endless litigation over such cleanups.

We'll eventually be disposing billions and billions of CFL mercury bombs. Much of the mercury from discarded and/or broken CFLs is bound to make its way into the environment and give rise to Superfund liability, which in the past has needlessly disrupted many lives, cost tens of billions of dollars and sent many businesses into bankruptcy.

As each CFL contains five milligrams of mercury, at the Maine "safety" standard of 300 nanograms per cubic meter, it would take 16,667 cubic meters of soil to "safely" contain all the mercury in a single CFL. While CFL vendors and environmentalists tout the energy cost savings of CFLs, they conveniently omit the personal and societal costs of CFL disposal.

Not only are CFLs much more expensive than incandescent bulbs and emit light that many regard as inferior to incandescent bulbs, they pose a nightmare if they break and require special disposal procedures. Yet governments (egged on by environmentalists and the Wal-Marts of the world) are imposing on us such higher costs, denial of lighting choice, disposal hassles and breakage risks in the name of saving a few dollars every year on the electric bill? - Steven Milloy publishes JunkScience.com and CSRWatch.com. He is a junk-science expert and advocate of free enterprise, and an adjunct scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

1972. The year that made my life

There are some people that do not agree with me with the outcome of the election between McGovern & nixon. But, as I sat stuffing envelopes, during the 1972 election at the "National Headquarters". I knew this guy was one of the best men I would ever meet.

I remember the fun, but at the same time serious aura of working there.

And that is why I helped out the next time around.

But while riding my ten-speed home down 18th street, after volunteering for the next campaign. I hit a pot-hole, destroyed the whole front end of my bike. [handlebar broke & dropped into the spokes]. Fortunately there was an SFPD two cars back from the idiot that tried to pass me thus forcing me into the pothole.

He helped me up, took me home, and I will never forget the look on my mothers face when I got out of the police car. After explaining what had happened, and with my bike totally trashed.

DIRECTLY TO THE HOSPITAL!

{seriously, I meant this post to be short. But this cathartic.}

The next summer my grandmother noticed & thought the lump on my shoulder might be a cancer. So I go back into the hospital, {I can't name it, but it used to start with an 'S', and still does}, and I go through x-ray & a bunch of other crap only to find out that I had a compacted bone in my right shoulder.

SO, Now to the point....

I got an email from my father. He is responsible for my political, but he & my mother shaped me into the socially conscious person I am now.

BUT NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT AT TIMES!!

So, not to bore you anymore, and I know that you are wondering were the hell I am going with this.............

Dick Cheney made a comment about George McGovern. And for me, I hurt.

The text from the email my father received this info was:

At last, Senator McGovern answered the recent uncalled for swipe taken by Vice President Cheney. Cheney attempted to blackball opponents to continuing the invasion and occupation of Iraq by comparing them to George McGovern. Cheney, who avoided service in our nation’s military, felt that comparing war opponents to McGovern would stir national hatred against the Democrats in Congress. Frankly, comparing the Democratic members of Congress to a World War II hero who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross serves as a compliment to them. Do you know any Republicans who’d feel honored being called a “Dick Cheney Republican?”

I have prattled on long enough. Here are the links to the L.A. Times story. Otherwise this post will now go on forever. However, I still cannot believe the VP of our nation would be as dumb as his boss for such a public flub.


George McGovern: Cheney is wrong about me, wrong about war

And the opinions of others:

Votes of support for McGovern

Blessed Be, and please, I ask you to not be an ass to those that give a crap about OUR nation

Dr. S.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The Art of Pole Dancing

This is semi-NSFW, but it is still a great video. This woman is more of a gymnast than "stripper". And I have only seen one other woman that can pull off [don't giggle] these kind of moves.


Blessed Be the flexible
Dr. Strangelove

Saturday, April 21, 2007

a young boy named Rocky Raccoon

A fellow named Led, had a song stuck in his head.
The song was Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles.
He tried to sing it to someone, just to have fun
And we were all on pins & needles.

But after the first, of many a verse
he forgot the rest of the words
But the doctor himself, with a network of wealth
but I can't find a rhyme except turds.

AHH SCREW IT! I couldn't think up good final line!

I found this so that he can annoy & perplex his coworkers even more:

Rocky raccoon

Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon
And one day his woman ran off with another guy
Hit young Rocky in the eye, Rocky didn't like that
He said I'm gonna get that boy
So one day he walked into town
Booked himself a room in the local saloon

Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival
His rival it seems had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy
Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy

Now she and her man who called himself Dan
Were in the next room at the hoe down
Rocky burst in and grinning a grin
He said Danny boy this is a showdown
But Daniel was hot - he drew first and shot
And Rocky collapsed in the corner

Now the doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, doc it's only a scratch
And I'll be better, I'll be better doc as soon as I am able

Now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky's revival

Goo goo ka choob,
Dr. S.

SPRING IS HERE!

You know that spring is officially here when you see the flowers blooming.OK technically it is a weed, but a flower just the same.

Blessed Be, Dr. S.

This video ROCKS!

I came across this video by accident & had to share it with you. You can either click the title or link below. Or once the video starts below, hit pause. It takes a while to load while streaming, just pause until the load bar is at least half way across.
It is worth the wait.
ENJOY!

PIKAPIKA: PIKA PIKA 2007 release!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The only thing to fear, is the paranoia of fear itself

I found this story & I totally agree with the this mom's point of view. Read & decide for yourself:
MSN Tracking Image
MSNBC.com
Newsweek.com

We Protect Kids From Everything But Fear
With hand sanitizer and long-sleeved swimsuits, we're teaching our children a dangerous lesson.
By Paula Spencer
Newsweek

April 2, 2007 issue - Four 11- and 12-year-old girls stood in front of my open pantry, mouths gaping wide. "Look! Fruit Roll-Ups!" "Oh, my God! Chocolate-chip cookies!" "You have regular potato chips? We only get the soy kind!"

After 14 years and four kids, I thought I'd feel comfortable as a mother. Instead, I'm increasingly aware of a prickly new sensation: that I'm some kind of renegade. Who knew that buying potato chips would become a radical act? Or that letting my daughters walk home from school alone would require administration approval? How did I, a middle-of-the-road mom, become a social deviant?

Fear is the new fuel of the American mom. If it's not fear of her child becoming obese, it's the fear of falling behind, missing out on a sports scholarship or winding up with a thin college-rejection envelope.

Apparently I'm not nervous enough. Last summer while I was loafing in front of the TV with my kids, the most benign things morphed into menaces. For example, the sun: long-sleeved, UV-protective swimsuits were all the rage at my neighborhood pool, while I could barely remember to bring the year-old sunscreen. The water wasn't safe either: at the beach I saw tots dressed in flotation belts and water wings—for shelling along the shore. And goodbye, cotton candy and hot dogs! At a major-league game I saw moms and dads nix the stuff as if they'd never eaten the occasional ballpark treat. As if their children would balloon into juvenile-diabetes statistics if a single swig of sugary soda passed their lips.

Half my kids' friends—who already make A's and B's—had summer tutors in order to "keep it fresh." I thought vacation was for relaxing and recharging. What would our pioneer foremoms think? (You want something to worry about, let me show you frostbite, typhoid and bears!) Heck, what must our own mothers think? (Snap out of it! Go worry about something truly scary, like how you're going to pay for retirement!)

I thought that once the kids were back in school, things would calm down. Instead, a fresh seasonal crop of anxiety sprouted, this time over corruptive candy fund-raisers and insufficient use of hand sanitizer. I know one mom who wants to change her son's schedule because he doesn't know anyone in his classes; she's worried he'll be "socially traumatized" all year. Another is afraid of a learning disability she just read about, though her child seems bright and charming to me.

And then there's playground panic. I had to laugh when an Australian study recently found that playground injuries continue to rise despite safety improvements. One of the suspected reasons: the safe new play structures are so boring that kids are taking more risks in order to have fun.

The fears are as irrational as they are rampant. Recently my children's elementary school failed to meet adequate yearly progress goals for a particular minority's reading progress under the No Child Left Behind Act and was placed on a warning list. This meant parents might gain the right to transfer their children to another school in the district. Never mind that this very same school sent more kids to the district's gifted program than any other, or that this entire district has the highest SAT scores in the state. The day the news broke, six different moms (none in the affected minority) asked me if I was planning to transfer my kids. From neighborhood pride and joy to threat to child's future overnight.

It's not that I think parents shouldn't worry about anything. I'm personally petrified of SUV drivers on cell phones. I fret as much as the next mom about how to pay for college. I pray my kids won't wander onto MySpace and post something dumb.

But you can't go around afraid of everything. It's too exhausting! No matter how careful you are, bad stuff happens (diaper rash, stitches, all your friends assigned to another class). And it's seldom the end of the world.

Watching my daughter's friends ogle my pantry, I realized there's one big, legitimate fear that I haven't heard anybody mention: what's the effect of our collective paranoia on the kids? Yes, these very kids we want to be so self-sufficient, responsible, confident, happy and creative (not to mention not food-obsessed). They're growing up thinking these weirdly weenie views are healthy and normal.

Walking out my front door that day, each girl happily clutched a plastic baggie stuffed with the exotic kid snacks that my daughter had doled out in pity. I may be a rebel mom, but at least I'm not afraid of a chocolate-chip cookie.

Spencer lives in Chapel Hill, N. C.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17770831/site/newsweek/page/2/


© 2007 MSNBC.com

Blessed Be, play hard, eat the cookies, and dump that soy based crap!
Doctors orders.
Dr. Strangelove

Monday, April 09, 2007

I would love to do this!

I found this nifty little note & would love to shake this guy's hand:

I love animals, but this is BULLSHIT!

PETA for me stands "People Eat Tasty Animals". But having seeing this site, I will be grilling tomorrow.
[I don't know what right now. But it will taste like chicken]

Shortly after eating a delivery of Bob's chicken. Click below


GIMMIE A FUCKIN' BREAK YOU PASTEY ASS'S!!!!!

People are just too fucking "P.C." now days. It is time now to stop the silly bullshit to not offend people.

LETS BREAK AWAY & TELL THE POLI. CORRECT, ANEMIC, SOON TO BE A BAIN ON OUR HEALTH SYSTEM, DIP SHITS, THAT WE STAND STRONG, {because we eat real food/with REAL protein}, AND PUT THESE GELFLINGS where they belong.

That would be @ the nearest granola shop.

Don't get me wrong, I recycle, I re-use, and I try to compost a bunch of things that I use.

But right now. "PETA, HELLO!?!?!? GIVE UP THE FUCKING FIGHT!!!!!!!!!

You have tried this over twenty times, and KFC has won every time.
.
Nobody really cares when it comes down to it.
.
Blessed Be, and please pass the BBQ sauce.